Preliminary validation of SMOS products (levels 3 and 4)

Author

Gourrion, J. ; Ballabrera, J. ; Aretxabaleta, A.L. ; Turiel, A. ; Mourre, B. ; Kalaroni, S. ; Hoareau, N.

Author_Institution

SMOS Barcelona Expert Centre on Radiometric Calibration & Ocean Salinity, Barcelona, Spain

fYear

2010

fDate

25-30 July 2010

Firstpage

3170

Lastpage

3173

Abstract

With the advent of ESA´s SMOS Mission, we have the opportunity for the first time of measuring Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) from the space and at a synoptic scale. However, the MIRAS instrument onboard SMOS is a new concept of instrument, and the adjustment and calibration of this interferometric radiometer poses great challenges. In this paper, we show the present status of Level 3 and 4 salinity maps, which are supposed to give accurate climatological descriptions of SSS, describing the attained accuracy and analyzing the geophysical consistence of those maps. A discussion on future improvements is also issued.

Keywords

climatology; geophysical techniques; interferometry; radiometers; seawater; ESA; MIRAS instrument onboard; SMOS product; SSS; climatological description; geophysical consistence; interferometric radiometer; salinity maps; sea surface salinity; Fractals; Histograms; Ocean temperature; Sea measurements; Sea surface; Level 3 and 4; SMOS; Sea Surface Salinity; match-up;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2010 IEEE International

Conference_Location

Honolulu, HI

ISSN

2153-6996

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-9565-8

Electronic_ISBN

2153-6996

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5651341

Filename

5651341